Warlock and the Infinity Watch #10: Review

Nov 1992

Jim Starlin, Angel Medina

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::

Story Name:

Self-destructive tendencies

Review & Comments

Rating:

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #10 Review by Rob Johnson (December 26, 2021)

This is an unbannered tie-in to #6 of the Infinity War event.

It stars only Thanos, with only Adam Warlock showing up from the Infinity Watch.

Fantastic Four #370 shows Invisible Woman giving Thanos a bit of help with a force field.

Thanos *will* go on to challenge Magus in IW#6, but he will be defeated. However he will free Warlock who will succeed with the help of Eternity and Infinity. We will then learn that much of what happened was part of a joint Thanos/Warlock plan where they had 1 of the Infinity Gems replaced by a fake. And the event ends as did Infinity Gauntlet with Thanos considering his future on his farm.

From Our Blog:

Gwen Stacy, beauty queen of Standard High School, was Peter Parker's (alias Spider-Man) first great love.

Gwen Stacy: Classic Beauty

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #10 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

At the end of Infinity War #5 Thanos sent all the heroes off to fight their Doppelgangers as a detraction while he went to face Magus alone to stop him remaking the universe in his own image. But his way was blocked by his own duplicate and they began to fight.

Now the 2 equally-matched powerhouses trade devastating blows. (You can tell which combatant is which because the real Thanos has lost 1 of his gloves.) Thanos is beginning to believe his Dop has even more raw power than himself. But then an even greater power intervenes. Magus has added the Infinity Gauntlet to his own accumulated might and has its previous bearer Adam Warlock crucified. Now he steps briefly from his control room to tell the Thanoi only the winner of their bout may join him within.

The pair pause their fighting to discuss the situation. They know that the Infinity Gems will have given Magus omniscience amongst other things, so he must now know that the Dop intended to betray him to win all that power for himself. The now-godlike Magus will undoubtedly kill whoever of them survives. They agree to team up against him before he learns how to really use the Gems. And they can resume their own grudge match afterwards. They combine power blasts to break through the door to Magus' Sanctum, but to no effect. They realise that the door will only open to the single survivor.

Thanos muses that his Dop has learned much from his association with Magus. The Dop agrees, including Magus' insight on why Thanos failed to hold on to the Gauntlet's power when he had it (in the IG event). Thanos wonders aloud how the Dop plans to avoid such a failure. He then suggests they flee to some other dimension before Magus cements his control on this 1 - a dimension which might have it's own Infinity Gauntlet. He pretends to leave but the Dop prepares to strike him from behind. However this was what Thanos expected and their conflict resumes. Thanos knows he must kill the Dop but doubts that he currently has the will to do it.

Magus is watching the duel and commenting on it to the captive Warlock. He admits that he is boosting the Dop's power to ensure his victory, and then he will personally deal with the disloyal winner. Other duplications will also be resolved:- his universe will replace the existing 1 (we have seen them merging) and his Dops will replace the Earth heroes. And he will replace Warlock. Adam makes no reply.

The Thanos-Doppelganger is winning. The pre-IG Thanos would easily have beaten him but his brief experience of omnipotence then has muted his desires and inner fire. After some more philosophical musings Thanos decides he cannot allow himself to lose, the universe needs him. He steels himself and fights harder. But then he realises that the Dop has the part of him that he now lacks, and that to save the universe he must reabsorb that 'evil' part. And he forces himself to kill 'himself'. And from the fading body emerges a butterfly. Which he eats.

His body is racked with pain. Then he feels the darkness in his soul again, and knows as the Magus did that he had previously been deluding himself that he could abandon that side of himself. Now Thanos of Titan is whole once more and is ready to confront a god (which he will do in IW#6).

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::